Events

 

The academic year is highlighted with a number of Department events.

 

Scholarship Reception

In early fall, the Department of Education and the Boyer Center co-host a reception honoring the winners of the Ethel Brandt Bigham Endowed Education Award, the Ernest L. Boyer Sr. Teaching Scholarship, the Terry L. Stoudnour Endowed Education Award, and the Suzanne Joy Johnson Endowed Scholarship.  Details about these scholarships can be found on our Scholarship page. The Fall of 2011 event will be held on Thursday, Sept. 15, 4-5 p.m. in Boyer 131 and Howe Atrium.

 

Fall Educational Research Forum 

The Fall Educational Research Forum highlights the research interests of one of our faculty members or alumni.  The research forum is open to the public, and frequently, local school officials will be invited to join us for the discussion. The topic of the Fall 2011 Research Forum is The Jacket Museum.

Melissa Deibler, a teacher in the Mechanicsburg Area School District and Messiah College alum, will present findings from her action research. Her study developed from a dilemma she experienced  in her first year of teaching: how to implement  an expository writing unit in her second grade classroom  During the forum, Melissa will present her findings as well as various stage, photographs, and data collected during her second graders’ process to create and manage The Dust Jacket Museum.

Past forums have included:

• Senior Katelyn Miller ('11) presented her honors project research, “Podcasting: An Intersectionof Traditional and Contemporary Literacies.”

• Research and Development of the Wireless Enabled Remote Co-presence: Assistive Technology to Improve Employment Outcomes for Secondary Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (Patrick, 2009)

• Contextual Nuances and Curriculum Development in the Developing World : A Case Study of a Complementary Education Program in Northern Ghana (Mfum-Mensah, 2008)

• Using Ethnography to “Unquiet” Children (Voelker, 2007)

• NSTA's SPIR Project: Snapshot of a Science Curriculum (Holmes, 2006)

• Risky Business: Teaching, Learning, and Doing Theology by Analogy (Zook, 2004)

• A Short Journey Through Pennsylvania’s Mathematics Assessment Land: Questions, Myths, Models, and Suggestions (Yoder, 2003)

• The Home-schooling Revolution: Why Both Conservatives and Radicals Left the School for the Home (Gaither, 2002)

 

Spring Educational Research Forum

The Spring Educational Research Forum typically features a guest lecture on a topic relevant to education. Speakers have included:

• Stephen Prothero “Religious Literacy: What every American needs to know . . . and doesn’t.”

• Jonathan Kozol  “Still Separate, Still Unequal: The Ethical Challenge for the U.S. Public Schools”

• David Smith “What is Excellent Teaching? Lessons for the Language Classroom”

• Dion Betts “Was Special Education Worth It? Perceptions of Former Students”

Farewell and Commissioning Service

Every spring the Department of Education holds a Farewell and Commissioning Service for its graduating seniors. Come for an inspiring evening as we celebrate God’s goodness and challenge this year’s Department of Education graduates to live lives of purpose as they leave Messiah. April 2, 2012, 7 p.m. in Hostetter Chapel.

Department of Education alumni, students, their friends and family and cooperating teachers are invited to attend. The service includes scripture reading, prayer, a brief meditation usually given by a Department graduate, musical performances by local school groups, a commissioning litany, and the presentation of lapel pins to the graduates. The lapel pin challenges and reminds graduates to continue to learn, serve, and care through their work as teachers. A reception and time of fellowship follows the service.